RZIM：Is America Really Christian Q and A – Let My People Think – by Ravi Zacharias

[Music] yes sir next question hi good evening in light of post-modernism and escape from anything absolute and concrete and also in its reference to the revelation where do you see America heading in the next stage in the next 20 or 30 years so where this is gonna go I think it's a mood it's a mood that is presently convenient you'll find out you cannot redefine reality and baptize it in any way you wish reality will stare at you in the face whether you like it or not death is death life is life when you love somebody you know the reality in your own heart all of these things will impinge upon your sensitivities and suppose modernism will be a convenient tool for those who want to escape reality post-modernism didn't begin in the 20th century it began at the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve hism and the Satan said has God really said did God really speak you redefine it in your own terms so I think it'll ultimately always be there in little specks and blobs and so on the realities will only be an escape hatch it will never define ultimate reality for us what does that mean two or three things the church will have to understand what truth means and proclaim it and proclaim Christ in His most attractive form secondly we have to start understanding that many people who come into our churches are already hurting we don't hurt them anymore we we plunge our hands into raw wounds when people come one of the biggest churches in the country has just released its study it came out last week it's in my hand the pastor of that large huge church that set the mold for many others I won't even used the terms said it rocked him to his boots when he saw the results he said I had an option either to not disclose this or to disclose it he said to disclose this is hurting me but not to disclose it would be hurt us more and basically it says there that the people who come there now for 20 years have not grown in depth and wants something greater and deeper than just trying to be relevant when they come there the church is a community and it's hard work you know Jeff and I often talk and he'll often rib me about something intellectual or so and you know you're deprecated himself in some way and I've said to Jeff I said Jeff you're a genius I said you're a genius I mean that he's able to turn a phrase he's able to take a moment and make it to make you need to be a genius to understand reality and then caricature it we are all gifted in certain ways we're all ignorant in different subjects so my challenge to you is we all need each other and we need to be a community post-modernism still longs for community and that's where the church is going to be read well study hard ultimately the questions will come and post-modernism will only be an escape hatch it will not be a reality at the end of the day rationalism came existentialism came in came all these isms and systems will come and go but the word abides forever and I think the church I hope we're recording this you did hear that mom did you next question thank you so much my name is Ruth Mahajan I'm a student here at Georgia Tech in Atlanta and my question is I was wondering if you could comment on the state of higher education in America and also what we as Christians can do to confront the increasing threats to freedom to speak the truth and religious liberty on college campuses today let me to say a couple of things about what is this happening in Europe because we may be slightly ahead of you on this so for example in France it is illegal to have a religious meeting on campus of any university three or more students gathered in a room is an illegal meeting so they can't even have prayer triplets so you have prayer doubles or if you're bipolar you're on your own but so I shouldn't have said that that was this Jeff he's a bad influence [Music] actually Jeff you may notice that my seat is not only warm but slightly dampen Alec this really is gonna be my last hour see I'm engagement isn't it now the situation is different in Europe we've we've had a huge belief in the value of education in Europe for a very long time which is why it's been free and it's only recently that even university size Oxford and Cambridge and the University of Paris and so on where you've actually had to pay to go now they have began to have to change that slightly and they do charge for it I I myself have been opposing that idea it was at Oxford University where I sorry at Cambridge where one of the a guy called Vidkun Stein who was the youngest professor of philosophy ever to be pointed in it appointed in the history of the university he said this to his students he said it is my job to move you from believing in disguised nonsense to believin in patent nonsense and others what he was saying was everything is nonsense everything nothing makes any sense but that fact is disguised from you but after three years of doing a philosophy degree at the University of Cambridge you will graduate with a degree in patent nonsense everything is nonsense but you'll know it's nonsense and that's why I'm opposed to university fees I mean why pay to get a degree in nonsense it doesn't seem to make any sense now because that kind of thinking has sort of been militarized now right across Europe hence why we have this incredible opposition and so for example another one of Richard Dawkins statements is that no ox no professor at university should be allowed to teach if he believes in God he went on to say that anyone who questions the idea of a theistic evolution should be expelled from the campus our campus where I'm also on the faculty one of my colleagues John Lennox stood up and said excuse me when I was trained as a scientist we were told to question everything are there now some things which are beyond reach which are going to have to be addressed so I think these are become very crucial issues but let me just reiterate something that Rabi said about freedom where he said freedom is not free let me just try to explain that freedom is not doing whatever you want whenever you want however you want to that is not freedom that is anarchy anarchy and societies that are ruled by anarchy are marked out by a loss of freedom not by the multiplication or the gain of it freedom is a moral concept it only exists within a moral framework which is why after the Declaration of American independence was signed Samuel Rutherford who was one of the signatories to that declaration said that a nation wanted his equally poised must died to preserve its virtue or lose its Liberty that a nation wants it is equally poisonous in the balance either preserve as its virtue or loses its Liberty because freedom is a moral concept it only exists within a moral framework what has happened with in the West is we have replaced a positive view of freedom with a negative view of freedom a negative view of freedom is characterized by the absence of constraints no form of external constraint whatsoever but the perfect model of this type of freedom would be a spaceman floating aimlessly in space free of any form of external constraint yet powerless to move and our societies have become increasingly powerless the opposite model of freedom would be a positive model of freedom if that spaceman wants to move he has to make contact with an external reality outside of himself against which he can push off and that external reality is God God gave us freedom he gave us a moral framework to protect and preserve that freedom unless we preserve both that framework and both him we don't have an increase of freedom we have a loss of it and that's the message I think we need to be taking to our campuses up and down the country and also in this country and my prayer for America is the land which is known as the land of the free won't end up losing its Liberty because I didn't also understand that it had to preserve its virtue but it's a very it's a very powerful question we simply need to take on the some of this bad philosophy and just expose the fact that it's actually not very good someone wants to find the philosopher as a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there and given the current state of player I can understand why that's becoming increasingly increasingly a popular conviction and what we simply need to do is explain what the very nature of freedom is itself and why we enjoy the a cure for academic freedoms that we enjoy that we wouldn't enjoy any other kind of university system almost anywhere in the world and help understand that those are some of the things actually make us great and we have to be prepared to make a stand for those things if we want to keep the kind of society that we have taken the ground for granted for so long but it's a good question and now I'll let the master and I'll go and sit on the dry seat over here [Applause] Lee Strobel the writer I was ribbing me one see he was talking with me and he said I blame you for my son going into philosophy I said why he said he was just heading along in another direction then he came and spoke at a set of meetings and he switched his majors becoming a philosopher so I called my son and I said do you know the difference between a professor of philosophy and a large pizza and he said my son looked at me said dad is this a trick question he said do you know the difference between a professor of philosophy and a large pizza he said what's the answer dad he said the large pizza can feed a family of four [Applause] you know what we don't like to pay our dues of thinking and now when we were attacked in every direction we need to raise up students who may need to learn how to think you know Jesus talked to lawyers he talked to people with leprosy he talked to people who'd blown it big-time he always got to the nerve of their question and then touched their heart I would say as tough as it is on the campus I can speak for our ministry we cannot handle over 90% of our invitations that come to us cannot if the university writes to me today in America it could be years before I even get there because we are so committed for years to come so you pray for people who are on the campuses doing the work in the Bible studies and the other little groups and for those of us who go in as apologists and try to light a match under them the university is leaving people empty I'll close with this when I began at Oxford University in July Michael organised some meetings and they moved us to the biggest auditorium when I was at Staten Island College of Staten Island last week they moved us from a small room to the - much better - much bigger auditorium there the opening day that I was to begin my lectures in the afternoon and the morning story broke on Bailey ol college campus that the president of the student body was a 21 or 22 something that 21 years old president the student body Bailey old college had taken his life when I was halfway through my talk I'm referred to it and I said I know exactly what drove him to that because when I was 17 that's where I was on a bed of suicide I said all your education I'm gonna give you a meaning it's only going to express your meaninglessness in most sophisticated terminology and I said you unmeaning you're gonna have to find it in that which is transcending ly truth and find that relationship with God you know they were lined up Michael will tell you they were lined up along the halls at the end of that I don't know the number of students who came and said they were struggling with the same ideas and deep-seated problems you've got to find the moment where the University student is transparent and they will open up you be the salt and you be the light you will be shocked in the years to come how many lives you've actually touched just by the way you have lived and reflected his splendor the value of others and one more question maybe thank you I have many Muslim friends from all over the world they come to this country they love the freedom of worship freedom of education they get even in Turkey you can wear hijab while you're at the University one thing that comes to point always is the concern America a model Islamic country and you made the claim that Islam wouldn't be able to create a country's United States how would one defend that position the great is the greatest are you a Muslim yourself no I was ok but great is recently the king of Arabia the king of Saudi Arabia give ten million dollars to Harvard University and ten million to Georgetown to open up chairs of Islamic studies for the sake of understanding Islam and creating more understanding I think it's a great idea if they've got the money you want to do it great idea the New York Times journalist said said to him in January one issue of 2006 she looked at him and said so understanding is what you see he said yes are you going to open a chair of Christian studies in Saudi Arabia he said no we don't have any Christians in Saudi Arabia she said isn't that the point if you want people to understand one another and you don't understand the Christian worldview why do you want the Christian to understand the Muslim world view he said that's not what our donation is all about we are here to create chairs of Islamic studies Howard took it Georgetown took it they've got chairs of Islamic studies where I we are at Oxford is the Oxford Centre for Islamic studies one of the greatest of which Prince Charles as a patron fair enough why is it that no Islamic country that I know of like Iran Malaysia Indonesia Saudi Arabia leaving Iraq and even in a moderate country like Turkey what happened in Turkey recently the brutal torturous murder of four people one oh two of whom were tortured for an hour or so you read that story where is the government where is the outcry in the media in this places there was a little bit of this little bit of that if when I was in Bethlehem Israel I was writing my book the Prophet and the priest Jesus had prints on the Prophet Jesus talks to Muhammad which will be released posthumously it's a it's ready and they're all in our lock and key because I'm not yet ready to sign my will because where there's a will there are some relatives I was talking to this professor of Islamic studies so candid conversation and I spent some time with the Grand Mufti my videographer Bob Taggert was here managing all of this he was with me so I go to this professor of Islamic studies and I say to him the Quran says there's no compulsion in religion he said that is correct I said if your daughter I pointed to his daughter's picture on there on the desk there I said if she became a Christian what would you do he didn't bat an eyelid he looked at me and said I'd kill her I said you'd kill her yes I said you would personally kill your daughter you said let me put it this way I will put every do everything in my power to keep her from making that change but then I will turn her over to the authorities and they will have to do the execution but I will have her killed I said so there is compulsion in religion there's no freedom to disbelieve there are people in Malaysia today who were misidentified as birth according to parentage and were listed as followers of Islam who are now asking to be removed from that because one of them is a Buddhist from a Buddhist family you may have followed that case he doesn't even have the right to go to court to ask for the rightful claim of his own parents religion so if Islam wants to be seen as on a par with America where there's freedom to disbelieve then it should give its citizens the freedom to disbelieve as well I've spoken about this at the highest level to ministers of religion and so on and I'll say this on the positive side I'm grateful to God that they've given me the honour of speaking there many times I've been to some places I can't even publicly mentioned you and Michael has spoken at madrasahs our team is invited we are in many many Islamic countries we go there we truthfully but Cordelia engage them with students with faculty I speak very respectfully but I ask hard questions because they ask me hard questions America will never force religion down your throat if it does it is in violation of its own constitution that's why I think but theocracy is not what we need we need the freedom for the Christian to be a Christian my question to the Academy is why do you allow the religious legitimacy of any other legitimizing any other belief system but you delete item i's Christianity on the campus that is a prejudice to all of you who come for this evening I want to say thanks so much for being part of it and for encouraging us please do pray for us we've got several major events along the way let me just close with this thought and then with a time of prayer just to close the meeting in prayer I've been sitting here thinking you know here in Atlanta you know the names of our streets speech 3 something somewhere you know go to Washington and you're talking about Pennsylvania Avenue you go to New York it's Fifth Avenue you go somewhere else was bound to be a Main Street these names we walk across and we see them and we think about America it's in these homes and on these streets that America lives and it's a huge moment of opportunity as dark as it may seem there are many many bright things happening believe me many bright things in political corners and so on you know he holds the heart of the king in his hand the nation's are a drop in a bucket God can well do without any one of these nations but he has chosen to shed His grace on this nation for a particular time for a particular purpose when I was in Damascus Syria recently the chief of one of major agencies was not a Christian welcomed me sat me down for an hour and told me they'd welcome me back and wanted me to have clear top clearance to come and speak there anytime his beads in his hand he leans forward and he said this where it all began you know when a man was put in a basket and lowered over a wall I swear it all began I said well it actually began little down the road here but the man in the basket was put in and then up the road went and helped change the world Jesus had a team of bungling stumbling misfits I don't know if I would ever have hired Peter in my organization and as for the sons of thunder we have a lot of them in organizations each boy wants the right hand and yet they conquered the known world at their time he has chosen the weak of this world to confound the wise we know the last chapter and we know every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father one of my heroes was a man by the name of Francis Thompson he was a genius but he got on to drugs three attempts at Oxford University he failed the father never knew where he was was roaming the streets of London in two places Charing Cross to buy his drugs River Thames where he'd cover his himself with his dirty raincoat and go to sleep at night in the winter cold of London as well he'd go to the dustbins and find newspapers and write letters to the editor and the editor would write back write an article and say there's a greater than Milton living among us but there's no return address Charing Cross River Thames Charing Cross River Thames he read the Bible came to Jacobs story God brought him to his knees and he wrote these words a world invisible we view thee a world intangible we touch thee or world unknowable we know thee in apprehensible the clutch D there's a fish sword to find the ocean an ego plunge to find the air do we ask her the stars in motion if they have rumor of the they're not with a Wheeling systems darken or Arbonne immed concealing source the drift of pinions would be harken beats on our own flesh utter doors the angels keep their ancient places touch but a stone and startling does ye does your estranged faces that are missed a many splendored thing but when so sad thou canst not sadder cry and upon thy so so loss shall shine the traffic of jacob's ladder which to in heaven and Charing Cross he in the night my soul my daughter cry clutching heaven by the hems lo Christ walking on the water not Afghan asset but Thames he walks Peach Street Peachtree Street he walks Pennsylvania Avenue he walks on Staybridge Road he walks on Fifth Avenue he is not far Lord abides forever the gospel of Christ through the cross is the only hope feel forgiveness you've been watching let my people think with dr. Ravi Zacharias we're grateful for your prayers and financial support if you'd like to know more about this ministry or would like to donate to our efforts you can call us at one eight hundred four four eight six seven six six or visit us online at [Music] www.norfolk.gov ease Accra International Ministries is really to reach the thinker and the skeptic to answer the questions and do evangelism undergirded by apologetics in clearing all of the obstacles that stand in the way so that the questioner can take a direct look at the cross of Jesus Christ we put it simply it is to help the thinker to believe and the believer to think the fivefold trust of ours eim has always been first and foremost evangelism we do evangelism undergirded by apologetics we are involved in training people where they are and within the church and training our young to be able to answer the questions that are being asked of them and then spiritual disciplines because we never want to forget the heart that has to be touched and reached so if you are evangelism apologetics training and spiritual disciplines but there is a fifth very important component wellspring International is the humanitarian arm of our CI m which is apologetics with the touch these five components of evangelism apologetics training disciplines and the humanitarian need these are the issues that really carry us into various settings next time on what my people think this combination of grace you let my people think is a listener-supported television ministry and is furnished by ravi zacharias International Ministries Atlanta Georgia

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Length: 28min 35sec (1715 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 02 2016